Zoids: Chaotic Century Episode 36
'The Sniper' '''The Sniper '''is the second episode from the anime series Zoids: Guardian Force based on TOMY's Zoids model franchise. Overview The episode begins showing a few Republican soldiers approaching Jerome Town. They set up camp, telling one of the residents that they're cleaning up after the old war as an ammo recovery unit. The Lieutenant in charge explains that during the war, the Republic lost a truck filled with explosives in the surrounding desert area--they're currently trying to reclaim the vehicle. The old resident asks if a friend of theirs booked a room at the hotel in town, pointing to a blue Blade Liger that's parked in town. The Lieutenant moves to investigate, claiming he's honored when he finds Van and Fiona, along with Zeke, resting at the inn. He offers to take them out to dinner that night. Van accepts. At the restaurant, the Lieutenant explains his mission to Van: a supply unit from the Republic became caught in a sandstorm 3 years ago and disappeared. He then asks Van what he's been up to since the war ended. Van tells him training and more training, kudos to Colonel Kreuger. The Lieutenant thanks them for their company, and Fiona wishes him goodnight. They then exit the town and begin down a path--Van suddenly tells Zeke to stop walking, saying that he and Fiona would like to be alone for awhile. Zeke, seeming a little upset, goes on ahead. Van then turns around, telling someone to come out and he's aware of their presence. A figure steps out, introducing himself as Dorsed, a special police investigator for the Republic. The bomb-squad Lieutenant and his subordinate talk back at their camp. His second-in-command warns him that Van's probably "on to their plan" and been sent to the area to check up on the situation. Dorsed explains to Van that this bomb-squad's excuse to "recover explosives" is just a ploy. It's true that a supply unit vanished in the area--but the cargo they were carrying wasn't explosives--it was an enormous amount of gold. The real intent of the unit is to steal the Republican supply. He asks for Van's assistance, then shortly after, introduces him to his partner, a Gunsniper hidden out in the desert with stealth technology. Van eventually agrees to help. Van and Fiona go back to the Blade Liger. Fiona asks if they're getting too involved, then reports that the Liger's left leg is a little off. Van fixes the problem by increasing the tension. Fiona says that everything now looks good--the Liger's ready for mobilization at any time. Van and Zeke then head off for the inn, telling Fiona to lock the Blade Liger's canopy properly. The next morning, the "bomb-squad" is able to locate the gold. They'll be able to load it all up by noon time. Van arrives, asking to tag along with the team. The Lieutenant agrees, then tells his second-in-command to make sure the Command Wolf unit doesn't let the Blade Liger out of their sight. From elsewhere, Dorsed watches them head out. After a bit of searching, the Guysak units detect the treasure. Dorsed, who was listening in on the conversation, heads out in his Gunsniper. As Van watches their Gustav haul up the crate of gold, three of the Command Wolves approach from behind. Dorsed sends out a signal, instructing the bomb-squad units to freeze--he's placing them under arrest. The Gunsniper shoots down two of the Command Wolves with its tail rifle; Dorsed orders them to surrender. Van backs him up, telling the Lieutenant to surrender his weapons. But the Lieutenant gives the order to fire, and the Command Wolf unit attacks. Van evades their shots while the Gunsniper approaches. Van calls for Zeke, who merges with the Liger. Van and Fiona begin working together to further evade the shots from the Command Wolves. While they fight, the Lieutenant drives away in the Gustav, the crate of gold loaded onto the back. Dorsed offers to go after the transport truck while Van fights off the Command Wolves. The Blade Liger deploys its energy blades and destroys two charging Command Wolves. Van quickly finishes off the remaining two. He overhears radio transmissions coming from Dorsed and the Lieutenant (whose name is finally revealed as Cunningham). The two begin arguing, with Dorsed insisting on arresting Cunningham. A big explosion goes off in the distance. Van arrives to see debris scattered from the blast. Elsewhere, Dorsed and Cunningham are laughing together, telling the other good job. It turns out the two were working together the whole time--because of the blast they set off with the scattered scarps of metal lying around, others are likely to believe that they killed each other, allowing them to run off with all the gold. Van tracks them down, showing them his Guardian Force emblem (in the form of a small, metal plate on a chain around his neck). He fires at the Gustav. Dorsed goes after him in the Gunsniper. The Liger and Gunsniper charge at each other, firing their guns and receiving a minor hit to their armor (the Gunsniper ends up getting one of its arms shot off). They pass each other and each go to make a turn; Dorsed anchors the Gunsniper down with one of its claws, then turns on one booster, spinning quickly around and firing upon the Liger. Van responds by activating his shield. Dorsed then fires the Gunsniper's missiles, which stall Van long enough for Dorsed to turn around and activate the tail rifle. He fires three bullets in a row, all at the Liger's shield. The first bullet punches half-way through the shield, the second cracks the shield, and the third breaks through, striking the Liger. Fiona reports that the shield reactor and the stabilizers have been damaged. Dorsed then aims for the cockpit, his intention most likely to kill this time. But the Liger ducks, dodging the bullet in the nick of time. He then fires upon the Gunsniper, who is vulnerable due to the fact that it has its back turned to him. The Gunsniper falls, and Van turns his attention to Cunningham, who attempted to run away. He fires at the ground close to the Lieutenant's feet, causing him to trip, covering him with a pile of dirt. Van then asks Fiona to please contact Captain O'Connell, since he'll need some work done to fix the Blade Liger. Fiona agrees; Van tells her to also pass on the following message: "Mission Accomplished!" bringing the episode to a close. Zoids *Command Wolf *Guysak *Gustav *Blade Liger *Gun Sniper Trivia * A similar technique to the one used in this episode to break Van's Energy Shield is later used by the Guardian Force to break the Geno Breaker's shield. * Most of the opening scene was cut out, Fiona is contacted by O'Connell about the next mission. It was edited due to Van taking a bathroom break. See also: Zoids: Guardian Force Category:Zoids Anime Category:Guardian Force Episode